Another Testing Ground for a Resurgent Nadal and His Injured Knee

Rafael Nadal during an exhibition at Madison Square Garden, his first appearance on a hardcourt since he injured his left knee.Credit
Ben Solomon for The New York Times

Until only a week ago, Rafael Nadal still did not feel free to run to every ball. His left knee injury, which forced him to take a seven-month hiatus from competition, was still causing enough trouble that three tournaments into his return, he termed his status day to day.

It was difficult for Nadal to abandon the tour last year, he said, and now that he is back, he dolefully described a troubling rehabilitation, when he tried different treatments that did not work. He would wake up every day wondering how his knee would be, only to realize it was still bad. There was no timeline for his return, and even as he was starting a three-tournament swing on clay, Nadal repeatedly mentioned the pain in his knees.

But last week in Acapulco, Nadal felt — and played — much more like the player he was before he had to leave the tour midway through 2012, not long after a stunning second-round loss at Wimbledon. At the Mexican Open, Nadal blasted the tournament’s top seed and defending champion, David Ferrer, 6-0, 6-2, in Saturday’s final, an outcome that seemed to surprise even Nadal.

“I really didn’t know if I would be able to play against this kind of player, being competitive in the third tournament of the year for me after a long time without playing,” Nadal said at a news conference Monday morning. “I’m happy I played much better than I thought.”

Now, Nadal said, he knew his knee would allow him to play on clay — his match record in the three tournaments since his return is 12-1, with two titles — critically important for a player who has won seven French Open titles. On Monday night, though, Nadal got a different test in an exhibition at Madison Square Garden, his first appearance on a hardcourt since the injury.

In the past, Nadal has suggested that hardcourt tournaments have contributed to the knee injuries that threaten to shorten his career. But he had committed to this exhibition — he is reportedly receiving $1.5 million for what amounts to a few hours of hitting — against Juan Martín del Potro last year, and he will then play the hardcourt tournament that begins later this week in Indian Wells, Calif.

There had been speculation that Nadal might skip Indian Wells — he has still not committed to a hardcourt tournament in Key Biscayne, Fla. — to preserve his knees for the European clay-court season that culminates in Paris.

An exhibition, of course, does not demand the level of strain and effort that a tournament does. But with tape just below his left knee, Nadal, looking slightly skinnier than usual, did not seem hesitant to chase down Del Potro’s shots during the 90-plus minute match, which Del Potro won, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Nadal ran the baseline and approached the net with ease, and in one sequence early in the match he twice leapt to reach for overhead shots, drawing roars from the crowd.

Nadal knew his movements would be closely watched, but before the match he played down how much he thought he might learn about how his knees would hold up.

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“I am not nervous,” Nadal said. “The knee is going better. We will see how it answers better next week at Indian Wells when you play in an official match; that will be a big test for me. I think it’s a process to adapt my knee to the competition, and I hope I will keep having the chances to play the normal calendar as I did in past years.”

But the future for Nadal, 26, and what his tournament schedule will be are still unknown.

Cliff Drysdale, an ESPN analyst, said Monday he would not consider Nadal, who is No. 5 in the world, the favorite at the French Open. Drysdale said he would put Nadal behind the top-ranked Novak Djokovic, whom Nadal defeated in a rain-interrupted final in 2012; Nadal’s dropped set in the final was the only set he lost in the tournament.

Charlie Pasarell, a former tournament director at Indian Wells, conceded that Nadal’s extraordinarily physical style of play might force him to skip hardcourt tournaments.

“There isn’t a tennis ball hit on the court that he doesn’t go after,” Pasarell said. “It is hard. It is hard on anybody’s knees. I think he’s looking towards the second half of his career — clearly he’s got many more years left — I think he’s looking at shortening his schedule.”

That may eventually be the case. For now, though, Nadal is reveling in a return that has surpassed the expectations he was trying to tamp down only a few weeks ago, when he predicted he would need weeks of work on the circuit to return to form.

“I really cannot predict the future,” he said. “I have to see how the knee will answer at Indian Wells. I really didn’t know one week ago if I’ll be able to play Indian Wells. I feel better. I go day by day.

“After seven months with a lot of pain in my knee, I really don’t have chance to decide what will be my schedule for the future,” Nadal added. “I try to enjoy every moment. I decided to go to Indian Wells, and later we’ll see how I am and see what’s next.”

A version of this article appears in print on March 5, 2013, on Page B15 of the New York edition with the headline: Another Testing Ground for a Resurgent Nadal and His Injured Knee. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe